Archive for the Cider Category

I was back at The Winking Lizard last Thursday. I decided to take it easy because I thought I might be catching a cold, so I just went with ordering two ciders.

First up was Aspall’s Dry Cider. This cider is rather potent at 6.8% ABV. I had some trouble locking down the IBUs on this one. A few sources said 0, a couple others said 4. Regardless, the bitterness is almost nonexistent. I wouldn’t say this is a sweet drink, though. Pardon me… Aretha dance break… Ok, back. Sometimes my Jackson 5 Pandora station causes an irresistible urge to boogie. So, cider. My erstwhile lady companions thought this smelled of apple and vanilla, which would totally make sense. My, apparently malfunctioning man-nose was under the impression that the cider had the aroma of an orange creamsicle. Regardless of scent differentials, we all agreed that the coloring was translucent gold. The taste, wow. Two of two tasters felt Aspall Dry Cider exemplified all that is cider. I wish I’d have had this second, because there’s no way my next drink could measure up. The sparkling bubbles burst in your mouth with a refreshing effervescent crispness.** Now, my little World Tour booklet tells me there is supposed to be a hint of honey in the beverage. I couldn’t taste it. This could have been due to my trying to fend off a cold, or perhaps my mouth requires slightly more than a mere hint. Other people at the table could taste the honey, and since I’m supposed to be the beer “expert” we’ll say it was the fault of my overactive sinuses, rather than a glossopharyngeal*** deficiency. I’m going to level with you, this was a $7 drink. You know what? Worth it. If you like cider and can find a way to get these on the cheap, do it and never look back. This means you, Dan.**** No, seriously, it is super good, go try one. On my Apple Scale from 1 to Steve Jobs, I’ll award Aspall Dry Cider a ranking of Apple Dumpling Gang. Yes, that is a terrible movie, but for some reason I have a super hazy, yet fond memory of that film, so it is a pretty high rating.

Speaking of fond memories, this post’s Three Things are my three favorite scenes from Batman: The Movie. #3: Batman can’t drop the damn bomb. #2: The shark. And my favorite bit #1: Super asinine logical deduction. (from 1:50 to about 3:20) If you ever get the hankering to watch the film, I recommend watching with the commentary track from Adam West and Burt Ward for extra hilarity.

Back to the cider. My second drink of the night was Harpoon Cider. I’ve enjoyed pretty much all the Harpoon beverages I’ve tried, and the cider was pretty good. Unfortunately it had to follow the Aspall, and while tasty, was not as ciderriffic. This one was a little tamer at 5.1% ABV. Here’s another with 0 IBUs, and I’d totally believe that as it was pretty sweet. I’m going to cut and paste from the brewery’s website because I liked this little blurb:

Other Ways for You to Enjoy Harpoon Cider

Cooking with Cider:

enjoy cider-marinated pork, or use cider to steam mussels.
Always enjoy a cider while cooking

Serve Cider:

as an apertif, at brunch, and for special occasions

Bring Cider:

along for picnics and parties

Mix Cider:

with Harpoon beer. Cider and beer have a heritage in New England that dates back to the Pilgrims. The two drinks can be enjoyed together or you can enjoy cider on its own. Here are some of our recommendations.

Harpoon’s cider had the pleasant scent of candied apples. It’s color was super light yellow, in fact there was barely any color at all. It tasted like a sour apple Sweet Tart or Jolly Rancher. While good, the flavor wasn’t quite as complex as the last drink. I’d still recommend this though, if you couldn’t find the Aspall or didn’t want to pay the premium price. On the same Apple Scale as before, I’d go ahead and give this a Jolly Rancher.

I’m hoping to make another trip to TWL this week. I’m thinking a Dopplerock might be in order if they still have it available. Until next time,

Cheers!

* Yes, I know Bob & Tom did this originally.

** Regular readers of my blog know that I’m a terrible speller. I’d just like to express my pride that I was able to spell effervescent without the assistance of spell check.

*** That’s the nerve that lets you taste stuff. -THUD- I just dropped knowledge on you.

**** Dan hates beer, but seems to really enjoy cider. I feel like this excellent beverage is perfectly pH balanced to not upset his delicate vagina. *****

***** I’m sorry. That burn was inappropriate. I hope I didn’t hurt Dan’s feelings. Robust and manly, that’s how I should have described his vagina.